Pittsburgh Pirates: Unveiling the 25-man All-Streak Team

Starting Pitchers

Francisco Cordova

Schmidt became a better pitcher after leaving the Bucs, but was one of the most talented arms the Pirates had during the streak. Photo Credit: Penn Live

It was really hard to find five competent starting pitchers during the past 20 years as Cordova went only 42-47 as a Pirate.

But he had an ERA under four at 3.96 and put together two back-to-back decent years in 1997 and 1998 where he won 24 games and finished with an ERA under 3.63 each year.

His combined no-hitter at Three Rivers Stadium remains one of the best Pirates moments during the losing streak.

Jason Schmidt

Schmidt was a guy I really liked and despite his under .500 record at 44-47 and an ERA of 4.39, he gets a spot on this team.

His best years came after he was traded to San Francisco, but talent-wise, he was probably the most talented pitcher there was to choose from.

Todd Ritchie

Many people forget about Ritchie as he only spent three years in Pittsburgh, but while here he did some good things.

Ritchie finished his brief Pirates career with an over .500 record as a starter at 35-32, which didn’t happen very often. His ERA was a bit high at 4.29, but in a two decade span of not having any starting pitching, he was one of the better ones.

Paul Maholm

Other than his rookie year in 2005,  the former first-round pick never had a winning record in a season for the Pirates, but despite finishing his seven-year Pirates career with only a 53-73 record and a 4.36  ERA,  Maholm gave the Pirates a chance to win on most nights, which is more than you can say for most Bucco pitchers.

He was a hard luck loser a lot but Maholm battled and deserved a better fate on most nights.

Josh Fogg

Sadly by default the final rotation spot goes to Fogg, who barely edged out Jon Lieber for the spot.

Fogg didn’t have much talent as his 4.79 ERA as a Pirate indicates, but he did finish with close to a .500 record as a starter at 39-42.